Chapter 12

The next week went by fast. They spent their entire waking moments going over everything that they could think of that would allow Ann Miller survive in the year 2002. She taught Roy how to use the computer now that she had reprogrammed it and he had to admit that it was much fast and much easier to use. Almost every night Thor would wake them up when he heard the Deer or whatever spooked him. Roy never saw what it was that spooked him.

They made love every night and usually in the morning too. She was getting very good at kissing and she seemed to like kissing. She started to insist that he hold her after they made love until she fell asleep. Often, during the day, she would walk into his arms and hug him.

Three days before his vacation was up, he woke up to find that she and Thor were gone. He lay in bed for a while thinking. He had made up his mind to resign from the weapons program. He had enough money saved to last a year or two. He knew that he would have no problem getting a job in the private sector. Headhunters and the defense contractors that he came in contact with had often approached him. He wasn't worried about the study that had peaked the interest of the Pentagon. There was no one working for the Pentagon that was smart enough to find the errors that he had writing into the study. The General would probably give the study Lyman Arnold to critique. Lyman was brilliant but lazy. As soon as he found the first error, he would write a long paper proving that Roy's study was flawed and not worth further study.

Roy got out of bed and went into the kitchen. Thea Ann had fixed a pot of coffee. She didn't drink coffee but she often fixed a pot for him. He went out on the porch and looked for her. He saw her sitting on the shore of the lake staring out on the lake. Thor was sitting next to her, looking around as if he was afraid someone would try to harm her. Roy walked down to the shore and sat down next to her.

"You're up early this morning."

She looked down, "I couldn't sleep. I've been out here since before dawn. I had to do some thinking."

Roy sensed that she had something to say but wanted to say it her own way. He didn't press her, just sat and sipped his coffee. Thor put his head on his paws and looked at the two of them, alternating from one to the other.

Finally Ann straightened up, "Have you made up your mind about the weapon, the MDD?"

"Yes. I made up my mind when you told me about the problems that I caused. I've never been thrilled about the program. That's why I came to the lake; I had to do some serious thinking. I might not have worked on the weapon even if you hadn't been brought here."

She smiled at him and turned to look at the lake again, "How do you feel about me, I mean what are your plans for me? I guess you'll want to get on with your own life soon."

He tried to put his arm around her and she moved away until Thor's body prevented her from moving farther away. He stopped trying to hold her and was silent for a minute.

"Ann, I love you. I think you know that. I'm just so afraid that you'll feel that you have to stay with me because of the situation."

She took his hand, "I love you too. You keep telling me that I'll find another man. I don't want another man. You and I fit well together. I've been thinking for days what these past weeks have meant to me. In my time men and women don't even talk to each other except when they are fulfilling their tasks or studying. Most of us live alone in our own homes. We have given up a lot because of technology. Now that I've seen how your time works, I don't think that I could ever go back. I'd probably be one of the troublemakers."

He kissed her hand, "I been thinking a lot the past few days too. I'm going to resign from the government. I've got some money saved and I can get a job in the private sector or I can do research on things that can make the world a really better place. There's a lot that we can do in the environmental area, transportation, almost any field that you can think of."

She stared out at the lake for a while, "If I could help you with some of the technology from my time, we might be able to solve some of the earth's problems. We don't have to do it fast. We can start designing small improvements in the way things are done now and introduce them slowly."

"What do you mean? What things do you see that we can change and not jump to far forward, to fast?'

"Well, like the way you generate electricity. In my time we have a similar system, but we use a Thorium compound. It's much more efficient and Thorium is abundant all over the earth. We use the radiation to enhance the solar electrical generation. That was not my field, but I think that we can figure it out. You could even start your own company to develop products and I could guide you using knowledge from my time. If we are careful and not make too big a jump we could avoid calling too much attention to us. We could also correct many of the mistakes that humans will make in the future before the mistakes are even made."

He got up and held out his hand to help her. She came into his arms and kissed him.

"I like kissing and making love. We have to make sure that these two things are not allowed to die out."

She kissed him again. Her hand went down and she grabbed his cock, "You didn't give me an answer. Do you love me enough to let me stay with you? Do you think that we could design products together to make the world a better place? Before you answer, you'd better remember what I am holding in my hand. If your answer isn't the one I want to hear, I'll throw it into the lake."

He gave her the right answer and they walked up to the house with Thor walking beside her.